Train Wreck
by blackwitchkarma
Summary: Naru's back from England and a new case to do with a train line has come up. This isn't like other cases because now the equipment doesn't work and they have to rely on Mai's diary hehehe. slight naruxmai
1. Chapter 1

**I do not own ghost hunt and this disclaimer is for all preceding chapters!**

**Kk guys, this is another idea I had for Ghost hunt and my second fanfic for this anime/manga even though the first one isn't completed yet. Anyway Naru's back from England and everyone knows that he is Oliver Davis and Mai also knows that Dream Naru is Gene. **

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Chapter 1

The smoke filled the air making it seem like a fog encased the area and the smell was enough to make you want to stop breathing. The fumes coming from the smoke gave the hint of coal, coal that was used in the burning furnace.

A tunnel lay directly ahead and the track went directly into it until it could no longer be seen thanks to the darkness where the light could not enter. The tunnel was very long and the journey two hours, two full hours without seeing daylight.

The station itself was very old; a new lick of paint was needed on the outside but apart from that the building looked to be well maintained. The facilities were up to date and the wooden floors clean apart from a few scuff marks here and there.

The railway track itself had been laid down brand new and Akihiko couldn't help but be proud as he put on his conductor uniform. His ma was proud of him and he was happy to be able to bring in more money to the house due to the higher wage than working with his old next door neighbour handing out fuel to the neighbourhood.

Ever since his Da died, it had been up to him to look after his ma and two sisters, Ai and Haru. Ai was younger by one year and little Haru was only nine. They depended on him to look after him, especially now that they had lost their mother to the waste land expanses of her mind.

For once his mother had actually come back to them if only for a little while and that was to tell him not to take the conductor job. 'Bad things would come of it' she had said to him with those keen eyes that he hadn't seen for five years. She stared at him for a second before the awareness in her eyes dulled and she began muttering to herself about spirit guides and dreamscapes.

Utter nonsense that scared the girls. Their mother needed help, there was no denying it. Saying things like ghosts existed and walking your soul out of your body, it was the cries of someone insane and Akihiko hated to think of his once strong minded and willed mother as a gibbling old women.

He pulled on his hat and straightened his tie before kissing his sisters goodbye. He headed into the kitchen where ma sat by the stove staring into the flames behind the glass.

"Ma, I'm going to work now," Akihiko kissed his mother on the forehead and was about to leave when his mother spoke.

"Rest in peace my son, and know that you need not fear for there is a place beside your father in the grave," Akihiko stared at his mother startled before hearing his sister's startled gasps behind him.

"Ma!" he said sternly, "Don't say things like that, you'll frighten the girls! Besides this whole nonsense is getting out of hand! Get it out of your head that I'm going to die on the train. It's the last run of the coal train before the bullet train is introduced. It's 1966 ma, nothing's going to happen, do you hear that girls? Now I'll be back at six with my first day's wages," Akihiko sighed before he slammed out the door and headed down the footpath to the dead end of the road where the station was situated.

***

_I hate him_, Mai decided as she poured another cup of tea. The tenth one of the morning, _if he thinks that he can come back after two months and rehire me the way he did then he is totally wrong. I have a right to quit! I have a right to manners!_ She nodded her head determinately as she lifted up the tray and brought the first cup of tea to Lin.

There was a very good reason for this. The first was that she felt like leaving Naru's tea to last, perhaps it would be cold. That'd serve him right. The other reason was that she was sure a confrontation was coming up and she didn't want to wreck Lin's tea only to have to make another cup.

"Lin-san, can you open the door please, my hands are full!" Mai called through the shut door waiting for the man to appear. Normally she would have used her elbows to open the door handle but it was kind of late to do so. Bags of paperwork were currently hanging of her elbows like coat hangers.

"Taniyama-san," Lin said in way of thanks taking his cup and saucer off the tray before shutting the door in her face again. Mai sighed; at least things were the same with him. While their silences together were no longer awkward they still left a lot to be desired in terms of friendship but Mai was positive that they were getting there.

Naru on the other hand was a different story completely. When she had re-entered the office for the first time in two months it was like the first case with Naru all over again. He had been his regular narcissist self, but he had been cold and all efforts at banter had been rebuffed. The only words he had spoken to her were to tell her she was rehired and typically of course, he wanted tea. From then on he had only ever spoken to her when asking for tea or to phone clients.

She didn't bother to knock when entering his office, instead she kicked the door open causing it to slam into the wall and making a few shelves rattle. She felt animus eyes bore into her but she didn't bother getting into a glaring competition with him. She walked to his desk and slammed the tray down, feeling completely proud of herself that some of the tea managed to spill onto the book he had been reading.

He made no comment as she poured into the milk, knowing perhaps from survival male instinct that today she was not someone to be taken lightly with jokes or taunts. He stared at her fuming face and couldn't help but look forward to the argument that was sure to be coming. He loved their fights and how with only a few cutting words he could shut her up and watch her face grow red with either embarrassment or annoyance. She always got so worked up, it was hilarious to see.

She splashed more tea as she placed the cup on his desk and headed toward the door. "Close the door after you Mai," he called out, wondering if that was enough to annoy her more. She paused for a second as if contemplating whether it was worth it or not but then she clomped out and the door slam shut behind her.

Naru sighed, having temperamental assistants may be funny but they could be bothersome, a liability and sometimes definitely not worth it. And Naru still wasn't sure if Mai was worth it. Sure she was a nice girl and her abilities were helpful on cases but she was more trouble than she was worth. She got too emotional on cases, became too attached and that was a sure way of getting broken. Also the amount of trouble she got into on cases. She wasn't just a magnet for danger but also for complete and utter chaos.

He wasn't too sure about what to do with the case of firing Mai or not. He would have to give her notice if he did and he would give her a good letter of recommendation, she deserved at least that if she had lost the last one he had given her. But somewhere in his heart he knew that letting the girl go would tear his effective team apart. It was a conundrum, he decided and the phrase that his father had often said to him popped into his head. 'Women! Can't live with them, can't live without them.'

"Dad, I think I finally understand what you mean," Naru muttered dryly to himself.

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**So what'd you think. I might update this after I come back from holiday or when I've finished GH fanfic #1**


	2. Chapter 2: Blinded by a dream

**Chapter 2: Blinded by a Dream (this title was suggested by Hana Banana aka Deathcarnation)**

The bell attached to the door jingled smoothly as a young man entered the office but the bell went unheard by Mai who was fast asleep on her desk using her arms as a pillow while drooling over her homework. The man stared at the assistant unsurely. What was he supposed to do now? Did he just go to knock the president's door or should he wake to girl up to announce him?

He dithered hesitantly by the closed door wondering if he should come back later before remembering he couldn't. He had a meeting with his higher ups as soon as he returned. Not wanting to be rude he decided on the latter decision and moved towards the girl.

***

She floated peacefully in the darkness and breathed a sigh of relief. For once it was a normal dream where she could relax or so she thought.

Her surroundings changed suddenly and she was in a different kind of darkness. The black tunnel was endless and the smell of blood reached her nose causing her to retch in front of her at the intensity surrounding her.

"Mai," a reassuring hand rested on her shoulder as she stood up, "Are you ok?"

"Nar… Gene! Where am I?" she gestured around her at the black walls and the soot covering her feet which she could barely see through the gloom.

"You need to run," Gene whispered to her as he grabbed her hand and pilled her down the dark tunnel. Mai didn't know what frightened her more, the ever continuing darkness as they travelled in the unknown or the fact that Gene's face didn't just hold worry for her. He was terrified!

"Gene, what's going on?" she asked slightly panicked and bewildered as she heard stones crunch underneath her feet as Gene pulled her along faster than she would have been able to run by herself. Her blood pounded in her ears as her breathing increased.

"He's coming…" ominous words before his voice was cut off as a familiar noise blocked her ears. The darkness was lit up by a strong light behind but Mai couldn't look back properly with Gene pulling her even faster as the noise blocked out everything else. Mai stared at the boy in front of her whom she trusted completely with her life until she felt her hand leave his as she tripped and fell and in slow motion as she fell she saw Gene turn around to glance back at her, alarm and shock passing over his eyes.

His hands reached out to her but as she landed all she could hear was the rumbling in her ears and the sound of maniacal laughter. She turned to see behind her but the bright light blinded her and even her own scream was blocked from her ears as darkness yet again overtook her, pulling her into its arm, not wanting to let go.

***

"Miss are you alright?" a panicked voice came from her side as she bolted up from her desk and glanced around her wildly before she began screaming and struggling against his hand on her shoulder.

"Mai?" the door from the main office opened, "Step away from my assistant," a cold voice came from the direction of Naru's office and Mai felt her shoulder released before she calmed down slightly enough to stop screaming. Even with Naru in the room her fear was not totally banished and she whimpered instead as she hugged herself.

"Mai what's wrong?" Naru asked bluntly and straight to the point like he usually did when he wanted information, and wanted it now. He was used to getting his own way!

He felt a faint annoyance when she wouldn't look him in the face. Her eyes whirled around the room, always shifting and never settling on one place for too long.

"Mai?" he placed his hands on her shoulders and gave her a gentle shake before releasing her as she collapsed back into her chair when she had been let go. Her lower lip wobbled as she tried to restrain the tears flowing from her eyes.

"Mai! Naru! What's up?" the cheerful voice bounced into the room as Bou-san entered with Ayako right behind him at the same time that Mai wept put, "I can't see!" her voice shook as fear and confusion set in.

Ayako pushed Bou-san out of her way without thinking and he ended up banging his head against the door while Mai sobbed causing Naru to take a step back away from the hysterical teenager.

To Ayako, Mai was if not like a daughter then a little sister and so she felt no hesitation in grabbing her boss and pulling him by the neck away from Mai while pushing aside the scared client so she could get to the girl.

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**kinda short compared to what I usually write but aw well. I still have to type up two chapters for two stories before I go to bed so I'm sure you guys can forgive me for how hastily written it was. Pretty plz. anyway please r&r and thanks to:**

**dutchangel, flamegirl, hana (who should have been signed in to leave a review but I'll let that go), Tbonechick (hmm, t bone steak, now I'm hungry so thanks alot lol), fallenraindrops and heavenslilangel**

**for being the first people to review the last chapter :) and this chapter was dedicated to you guys even though it was kinda rushed and not that great but I'll make the next chapter longer. Promise.**


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

"Is she ok?" everyone rushed out of their chairs apart from Naru and Lin while the doctor came into their waiting room which had been occupied for quite some time.

"Yes but I need to speak to the girl's parents," he said glancing around the room to find the most likely candidate.

"They're dead," the cold remark came from the corner of the room and the doctor turned to see a Goth staring at him coldly. _Sheesh kids these days wearing black is just wrong_, he thought to himself before regaining his professionalism.

"What about a guardian then?" he asked.

Before Naru cut say anything in his cutting tone Bou-san interrupted, "She's emancipated. We're her workmates and friends," Bou-san explained as nearly everyone surrounded him and he felt slightly insecure and nervous at the eager expressions on their faces as they waited for the news.

"Well then," the doctor pushed his glasses back up his nose and decided his next course of action," Miss Taniyama is fine. Her condition is known as flash blindness. This only occurs when the patient-"

"Has been exposed to a high intensity light or flash," Naru interrupted him and finished the sentence for the doctor, "We know what it is," he ignored the embarrassed expressions of some of his … denser colleagues.

The slightly flustered doctor decided that glaring at the teenager for his interruption would be immature, and as he did normally when faced with situations like this, he ignored the boy, "Flash blindness is either temporary or permanent, depending on the intensity of the light it could range from a few minutes to months at best. Your colleague's case is temporary but it is quite bad. Flash blindness is often the worst in dark places so I have to ask where was your colleague for this to happen? I need it for my report,"

Naru thought over this information while waiting for his brain to fully process it. If Mai's case was this bad that the doctor suspected that it had occurred in dim lighting then the only place it could have occurred would have been in Mai's dreams. But there was no way the doctor would believe that.

"Mai, was in the office the whole time," his cool voice echoed around the room, "There are no high intensity lights there that could cause her blindness,"

The doctor stared at the boy wondering how he thought he had the right to access a conversation that was clearly for _grown-ups_, not moody temperamental hormonal teenagers but the cold glare he received was enough to shrivel up all the confidence he had gained over his years of working in the hospital.

What the hell is this child? He queried in his head as he paled visibly unable to break eye contact while he backed away. Something evil, he thought and his primitive instinct for survival automatically told him to get out of the room before anything happened to him.

"Thank you for your help," the doctor backed out of the door hurriedly and let it slam behind him in his haste to escape.

Lin nudged Naru disapprovingly and Naru looked at him impassively before glancing away again.

Silence filled the room, an awkward one too.

***

"Look I'm fine," Mai said as she pulled her arm out of Bou-san's hand and sat down on the couch. Sadly for her, her memory of the office layout was not as accurate as she would have liked it to be and she missed the cushion by a large gap.

Instead of the usual laughter that would have normally followed, everyone rushed towards her to pick her up except Lin who had walked into his office to 'finish reports' while he was actually looking up flash blindness. Not that anyone needed to know that.

Naru walked past her and sat down in his usual armchair muttering, "Idiot," as he did so, loud enough for her to hear him. She huffed as Ayako and Bou-san helped her onto her seat and tried to ignore the heat in her cheeks, if she could ignore it then maybe everyone wouldn't see it, she reasoned. She was handed a cup of tea and she carefully held it in her hands.

"Are you sure you're ok?" Ayako asked for the tenth time that day. Mai scowled and didn't even bother to answer that question.

"Seems little Mai has been spending too much time with Naru," Bou-san noted quietly to Ayako.

Mai sighed, she hated not being able to see everyone's faces. She didn't know what expressions they had on, whether they were glancing at each other awkwardly, whether they were annoyed at her. Most importantly of all she didn't know where everyone was in the room.

Lin, she was positive, was in his office. Ayako and Bou-san were standing behind her no doubt and Naru was… probably sitting in his favourite armchair or he could be in his office, she reasoned.

"Mai, me and Ayako are going to your place to grab some stuff and take it to Ayako's flat. We'll be back in an hour, ok?" the office door slammed shut as the two left.

Sighing, Mai listened and when she heard nothing she assured herself that she was alone. She wiped the smile off her face and allowed herself to flop back on the couch. She released the breath she'd been holding and drank her tea quickly but then paused. She couldn't just leave her cup lying on the table in front of her, leaving the office untidy! But was it safe to go to the kitchen by herself? She could trip into things. Screwing up her face in thought she decided that the kitchen would be an easy feat. She pushed herself off the couch, cup in hand, and used her free hand to guide her to the end of the sofa.

She hesitated then, was this such a bright idea. There was open floor here on out, it could be like a mine field. She shook her head resolutely; she needed to do this to prove to herself that this handicap would not have a drastic affect on her.

She walked slowly in the direction of the kitchen and when she felt the tiled wall of the archway leading to it she smiled to herself.

See Mai, she thought, that wasn't so baaaaaaaaaaaa

As she fell forward having forgotten about the step down she heard an exasperated sigh close to her, too close before arms wrapped around her and put her back on her feet.

Mai sighed with relief and was about to say thank you when Naru beat her to the punch, "You should be more careful, your head couldn't withstand any more damage if your brain cell count were to lessen,"

Mai huffed silently, not unaware of the fact that she was still in Naru's arms, and childishly stuck her tongue out, not having realised that Naru's face was centimetres away from hers.

Leaning back slightly Naru released her and stepped away before guiding her towards the sink and let her wash her own cup. He figured that she didn't like feeling dependent on others as she had gotten used to living by herself so this was the most menial independent task that she could be given. Even allowing her to make tea now would be dangerous since she could hardly be left alone with boiling hot water.

Naru sighed; he didn't know how long he could last without Mai's tea. It wasn't that anyone else's tea was undrinkable; there was just something about Mai's that tasted better.

"Naru stop scowling," Mai gave off as she used her hand to find the exact location of the teacup cupboard.

"I wasn't scowling," Naru protested his innocence before he realised that he had been.

"Yes you were and don't lie," she chided him as her eyes connected with his and he found it slightly disturbing to be making eye contact with someone who couldn't see him. He paused, Mai couldn't see him. Then how was she making eye contact? To see if it was a fluke he stepped sideways and her eyes followed him as he repeated his small test again.

"Mai, can you see me?" he asked curiously, wondering how it was possible. Perhaps it had to do with her latent abilities.

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**Whew, I've finally finished my other ghost hunt fanfic so I just have to post it up and then my focus will be on this story (if I don't get distracted) so updates may be quicker if the internet ban is taken off and I can use it whenever I want.**


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

Mai stared at her boss curiously, what part of flash **blindness** did he not understand? Perhaps it was the blindness part? She shook her head. No Naru was a narcissist, not an idiot, or at least not all the time or in certain subjects.

"No Naru, I cannot see you!" Mai replied in an irritated tone, "Why?" she asked curiously.

Silence.

"Naru?" she asked wondering why he wouldn't reply. She heard nothing and somehow she knew he was no longer there. She scowled, damn him. He won't even answer me something that is important _about_ me. She hated when he did that, it was so annoying!

She moved around the kitchen clinging onto the kitchen countertop before she reached the archway. Sighing as to why Naru couldn't be the more concerned friend type she hesitantly raised her leg onto the step and pushed herself up while still clinging to the wall.

She resisted the urge to call out to Lin or Naru for help; she could do this by herself. She didn't need help, especially not from _him_! The narcissistic egotistical jerk.

She allowed herself to release her grip from the safeties of the wall and step out into the 'great unknown'. She made it to the sofa without any further incidents and lay down on the couch.

To be honest, she was worn out even though she wouldn't tell her friends that. The whole stress of her situation was worrying to say the least and she felt she deserved a nap.

As she entered her semi-conscious state she felt someone cover her with a blanket and she could only hope it was Naru.

***

_It rained that day. The rain fell down from the overcast sky and hit the wooden coffin as it was lowered into the muddy ground._

_Mai stared down at the ground as she stared at the two girls weeping and wailing by the side of what obviously must be their mother._

_They wore the usual colour that everyone wears to funerals. That even Naru wears, even though he'd found his brother and had him buried. Black._

_Watching the funeral brought back memories of her parent's funerals. Both of them and she felt the tears leaking down her face as she stared at the two girls._

_Wait a second, I can see. Mai thought about this cautiously. If it was her dream that had caused her blindness, then how was it possible for her to see here? Naru might have a theory about that, she thought and made a mental check to ask him. Leaving that thought to think about for later she stared at the scene playing out before her._

_The crowd was small; it consisted of the three grieving by the grave side, a man not far behind them wearing a conductor's uniform had his hat off in respect. Apart from that there were only a few stragglers and judging by the clothes this funeral had happened quite some time ago._

_Wondering why she was dreaming when they hadn't even accepted a case confused her unless it had to do with an upcoming one. Which meant that Naru was going to accept the case when she was definitely a liability. Sure all those other times she had to be a bit more dependent on everyone else but in no way did that make her a problem. In no way whatsoever!_

_Scowling to herself she focused to what was in front of her. The priest spoke a final few words and everyone departed except the woman and her three daughters. They stared at the place the coffin had been buried. Mai walked closer to them and read the gravestone which said Akihiko Mori died 1966. R.I.P. _

"_I told him not to get on the train," the woman murmured to herself as she stared down at her son's grave and almost as if she was watching a movie it paused. The wind stopped blowing, the rain stopped falling and the children stopped crying. The mother however turned to stare at Mai, almost as if she could see her._

_Mai took a step back, this wasn't possible. Not only was she dreaming but this burial happened decades ago. The woman smiled sadly at her and pointed to behind Mai before the scene vanished and Mai was left alone in the darkness._

_It was cold and dark. The coldness collided with her skin causing her to shiver as Goosebumps emerged. The darkness was stifling and it scared her. Something lurked here, something evil, malicious and cruel that was out for blood._

"_Run!" the voice was distant but unmistakable, Gene. Glancing around her she searched but he wasn't there and the darkness crawled around her further. Heeding the advice she ran ahead, unsure of where she was going. Without meaning to she slowed down as she was surrounded by will-o-wisps. Staring around her in horror she didn't notice the shadow coming up behind her menacingly._

"_MAI!!" Gene shouted as he appeared in front of her and dragged her out of the way as a knife swept in an arc for where her head had been located. Gasping as she fell to the hard gravel floor she felt the stones puncture her arm and she stared up at her attacker in horror as he brought his knife down in one final stab until light fell on them and the screeching of brakes on rails sounded throughout. With the tunnel lit up Mai had enough time to stare at the oncoming train and hear voices calling her name as she waited for her collision with the train engine but it never came._

_Gene stared down at her and she realised with relief that they were no longer underground but instead above the SPR building. Standing up and dusting herself down she stared into the building and noticed that Ayako and Bou-san were talking to Naru while glancing down at her body anxiously. Looking at herself closely she noticed that she was muttering and twitching in her sleep._

_Glancing down at herself as Gene took her into the room she noticed that her hand twitched and she… felt it. Glancing at her hand she stared at it, willing it not to move and sure enough it didn't but she still felt her hand twitch when it did in her not-dream world._

_She stared at Gene anxiously but he didn't notice, instead staring intensely at his brother. Looking away from herself she focused in on the conversation her friends were having._

"_But it's not safe to accept a new case with Mai at such a disability," Bou-san was complaining, "Think of the amount of trouble she gets into without a disability. What do you think it'll be like with her blind?" his voice grew louder as he let out his frustration, "She could die,"_

"_She won't," Naru said back calmly, "She'll be with someone throughout the case. She will not be left alone," Naru stated and I felt annoyance. If he thought that he could just lump me onto somebody then he had another thing coming._

"_And you think she'll stand for that," Ayako objected and Mai stared at her with pride, at least she understood, "Trying to get her to stay with me was bad enough. She doesn't like being independent on others because she's been alone for so long and had to do everything for herself. So how do you think she feels now? She probably thinks she's a burden on the rest of us and she will be if we go by your plan," Mai froze as she heard those words come from Ayako's mouth and shook with horror as she saw Bou-san nodding in agreement and Naru musing over this fact. She stared at Gene who turned to smile at her comfortingly before he disappeared into the darkness that had yet again crept around them._

_Staring around her one more time she relocated Gene and rushed towards him. He stared at her calculatingly, "Mai, whatever he-"_

"MAI! Wake up!" Bou-san shook awake the girl and she opened her eyes to complete blackness. Panicking inwardly and before she took time to recognise the voice she lashed out and felt her fist come in contact with someone's head.

"Mai? What's wrong?" Ayako pushed Bou-san into Naru as she rushed to Naru at the same time he was. Sitting on the couch beside her she pulled the girl into a hug and held her tight as she cried.

Staring at Mai, Naru wondered if his plan was a good one. Ayako and Bou-san had raised some fair points but Mai had already had a dream about the train station before he's even heard the case. This could be because her powers were growing too strong for her to control or this spirit was actively seeking her out. But either way he needed her and her dreams to solve this case.

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**Sorry for the wait on this chapter. I really had to do my geography coursework this time instead of writing so this is the result of me trying to write while avoiding letting my mum know that I'm 'mucking around' on the computer. Of course it didn't help that our main computer went and got itself a lovely virus which has made it go caboot. We've lost all of our files, pretty much everything! Life is so unfair.**

**Anyway, I'm getting tired of not starting the case so next chapter is Day 1 of the train wreck case. YAY**


	5. Chapter 5

**Sorry about the late updat guys. Can you please forgive me?**

**

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****Chapter 5**

"In total the train journey is around an hour long spent in the tunnel. It's more of an underground service than a train. There have been incidents of the train being half an hour late into the station causing people to miss their linking train and we've been getting grief for it. That's not all; when we asked the driver why he was late he didn't have a reason. He followed the same track as usual. Only recently did people begin to go missing on the train. We don't have any idea of where they went and their bodies haven't been found," the young man who had come to them in the first place, Mr. Fujioka spoke quietly as he brought them into their base, "Or at least not officially to the public." The young man handed Naru an official looking folder, "My employers recommend that you take a look at that folder before you continue on with the case," Mr. Fujioka swallowed nervously before thanking them and leaving the room.

Naru flicked through the file briefly before placing it on the table beside him. He turned to Lin who was already on his laptop before turning to Bou-san and Ayako who were carrying in the boxes of equipment. Noticing the lack of someone's presence he wondered what part of don't leave her alone they didn't understand. "Where's Mai?" he asked irritably,

"In the car asleep," Bou-san puffed as he set the equipment down while wiping the sweat off his forehead only to be met with a glare.

"I thought I said that Mai wasn't to be left alone for a second on this case," Naru muttered stalking out of the room irritably. Why was it that when he really wanted his team to be competent they just weren't? What was it that made him go through this incompetence? Fate? Karma? Or just being smited by the almighty smiter?

He marched out of the station and to the black van. Before he opened the door he felt a fond smile settle on his mouth as he stared at his friend sleeping with her head propped up against the window he was staring through. Looking at her, he wondered how it was possible for someone so delicate looking to be so tough and independent all the time? Her blindness must really be a struggle for her, he thought sadly before he noticed something lying on her lap.

_This diary is the property of:__ Taniyama Mai aged 16 :_

He stared at the diary curiously but before he could open the van door to take it from her lap and see what she had written, she woke up and eerily turned to stare at him through the window without him having made his presence known.

"Mai?" he asked curiously, "What are you doing with a diary if you can't see what you're writing is a total mess?"

She smiled at him and he almost took a step back as her eyes connected with his yet again, "My friends bought me this diary a while ago but it has indented lines so I can keep my writing in a straight line even though I can't see it," she lifted the diary off her lap and hugged it to her chest, "You weren't thinking of reading it where you?"

Naru stared at her penetrating eyes nervously; one thing he knew was to never let a girl know you had read her diary. According to geeks-on-line it was the next best thing to hell when they unleashed their full hatred on you and he knew that he had never seen Mai in a full blown temper before. And he probably wouldn't live to survive the tale.

"Mai," he said coolly though glad she couldn't see him, "Why would I want to read the inconsequential day to day thoughts that go through your head which would probably not even entertain a toddler, not to mention someone of my intellect," and following his routine he finished up his _very_ smooth lie with his ever so perfected _Hah I'm so much better than you that you can never compete with me _smile.

"You're smirking aren't you?" she muttered as she unclipped her seatbelt.

"That's neither here nor there Mai. Now get out of your seat. Even though you're blind you're not totally useless," Naru smiled evilly as an idea came to him, "Now I need you to take those folders over there," he pointed randomly anywhere, "into the base and tell Lin to type up from here to here," he ran off quietly before her ear-splitting scream could be heard.

"Damn frigging narcissistic jerk," she muttered to herself as she hopped unsurely out of the van and stumbled as her feet made contact with the ground. She held onto the side of the van tightly as she tried to figure where she was supposed to be going. Stretching her other hand out to see what was behind her she came in contact with a brick wall.

So I'm beside the station, she thought to herself until she felt her knees buckle to the ground and the darkness of her dreams rushed towards her but not before the blinding pain of when her head came into contact with the concrete pavement.

"_I would like to purchase one ticket," the man asked the assistant calmly as he stared at the rather short line of passengers looking to get away from the train rush early like him._

"_Single or return?" the woman asked as she stared at the man in front of her who was if anything quite good looking._

"_Single please," he murmured softly and the woman behind the counter felt a soft blush grace her cheeks until she remembered her boyfriend. Shaking her head softly she handed the ticket to the man and beckoned for the next passenger to come to her counter._

_Mai stared around her, wondering again at being able to see properly. She stared at the woman behind the desk whose name tag said Aimi before following the man out of the room._

_The station was darkly lit and as Mai estimated or rather knew dawn was yet to come. She followed the man onto the platform where only a few passengers stood and he turned to face her. His eyes were a deep blue, but not the calm reassuring blue of Naru's she thought as their eyes connected and a smirk spread on his face. He wore inconspicuous clothing and she knew that if she had walked past him on a normal day she would never have passed him a second glance. In fact, apart from his eyes, there was nothing else that really made him stand out from other people. He was just another face in a crowd of many._

_He stared at her a little longer as if confirming something to himself before he took two foot steps; he was standing directly in front of her, his face inches away from hers. _

_Terror filled her at the manic look on his eyes and before she could do anything he had drawn a black metallic object and held it to her head. He pressed the trigger and a shot rang out in her head but all she could feel was unbearable pain._

_She felt her surroundings change and she felt someone pull her hands away from her face. "Mai, listen to me," the other Davis brother urged as he stared down at the petite girl as he saw the blood leave her body, "You need to be careful. This is connected to _you_! Tell Naru that you-"_

_The pain was to immense and whether it was on purpose or not Gene faded away to some other plane of existence leaving Mai crawled up in a foetal position as she waited for the pain to leave but it didn't. It steadily grew worse as footsteps approached her and a harsh gleeful voice murmured softly in her ear,_

"_Finally I found you!"_

_

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_

**Everthing below this has nothing to do with the chap above, or well not really.**

**Ok, if this chap confuses people then how do you think I feel? I have a general idea where I'm heading with this story but not much. I'm a bit like Mai working in the dark here cuz stuff is coming into my head and I'm just writing it down. Blame Rick, my evil little leprechaun writer minion. Nah just blame me.**

**Well we have some good news guys, or for me at least. I finally finished my geog coursework which is why this has not been updated. My mum said that if I didn't finish and hand my geog coursework to her yesterday then I was grounded until school starts on the 2nd September so sorry but hanging with my friends took priority over this cuz there were a few birthday parties coming up and I love getting hyper on coke and sweets.**

**I'm sure out of everyone who has read this chapter, only one will understand the whole smited by the almighty smiter and sorry hana, couldn't resist.**

**Oh and yet again my head has done it on me. I now have an idea for another ghost hunt story and I can't hold out much longer so pretty soon I'll be updating for two ghost hunt stories but I'll try to update them both asap.**

**:p**

**blackwithkarma and Podrick the Leprechaun (who doesn't exist but don't tell him that!)**


	6. Chapter 6

**For any who is interested this chapter was written while listening to Nox Arcana who are awesome. **

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Chapter 6

"Mai can you hear me?" Bou-san shook the unconscious girl as she whimpered in her sleep.

He and Ayako, he regretted to say had thought Naru had gone out to check on the girl so they had taken their time going back out to the van. Even sat down, had a nice cup of tea and German biscuits to top it off. So when Naru came in half an hour later, looked around the room and asked where Mai was it seemed to cause a general panic in the two parental investigators.

"What do you mean you checked on Mai and left her!" Ayako yelled at Naru as they rushed out of the room, "YOU IDIOT!" Bou-san twitched as her high-pitched voice invaded his eardrums.

Naru himself was not duly worried. Although it was Mai who tended to get into a lot of trouble, what could she do blind really? It wasn't like she could see something and like the toddler she was, go and see what had caught her eye. Really and truly she was better off blind. Possibly? But then he'd never get his lemon tea how he liked again?

Lemon tea or Mai's safety?

Naru thought hard, which one was more important to him. He'd need time to think about this dilemma! Besides he only liked Mai's tea, so if he wanted it kept up to the same level of excellence Mai's safety would have to come first.

Running outside they saw the collapsed girl lying on the pavement while she tossed about, no doubt having another bad dream with some reference to the case. Without stopping Bou-san picked her up and brought her into the base and lay her on the couch in the small base. Already to the side of her eye a large black bruise was starting to form as everyone watched her worriedly.

"_Who are you?" she muttered as she clutched her gun wound, wondering how it was possible that she wasn't dead. The man stared at her speculatively before raising his gun again and pointed it at her head. Her eyes widened before she shut them and waited for the final blow but when the shot went off and she felt no pain, she hesitatingly creaked open her eyes. _

_The man had vanished leaving her in a wasteland of blackness. She sat up quickly and taking her hand from her head she was surprised to see no blood traces. Grimacing she stood up, ignoring the aches and pains of her body protesting before she took her first step on the nothingness only to fall and fall._

_Air brushed past her during her descent and her screams were muffled as regular shovelling noises hit her ears. Staring around her, she could neither tell if it was her blindness or the darkness that prevented her sight but every time she blinked flashes passed through her minds eye._

_As her fall stopped and started again she closed her eyes and discovered where the noises were coming from. _

_The images were given with a tinge of red and orange to them, probably from the fire which the workers on the engine were shovelling the coal into. Next second, the shovels were digging into the soil and throwing it into the grave to fill it in. _

_Coal, grave, coal, grave, coal, grave, coal, grave, coal, grave, coal, grave, coal, grave, coal, grave, coal, grave, coal, grave, coal, grave, coal, grave, coal, grave, coal, grave, coal, grave, coal, grave, coal._

"_Mai!"_

_The shout was familiar but from which Davis twin it came from she didn't know. _

"_I'll get you," the voice came so startling close that she nearly yelped in shock but with her eyes wide open she couldn't see anything. _

"_Mai!" the voice sounded so far away but she didn't want to call out. The man was closer to her now than her protector._

_She closed her eyes and found herself on a carriage, with the scenery from the window non-existent through the dark. The man was further down the carriage open and closing the sliding doors to check each compartment. She was in the last one of the carriage, she didn't have long to wait until he found her and she could distantly hear Gene or Naru calling out to her but where his voice was coming from she didn't know._

"_Found you," he was in front of her now and with a grim smile he produced a bag from nothing and took a firm hold of whatever was inside. Pulling it out of the bag while at the same time spraying Mai with blood, she could only look on in horror as she saw the head held in front of her, decapitated from the body._

_Blood poured from his neck through the blood vessels and the skin were the head had been taken from the body was flopping in and out as the man moved the head due to the lack of flesh. The skin pallor was pale already and the eyes were glassy and slightly sunken into the skull but it was clear to see what the man had looked like before death._

"_Mai!" the head's mouth opened and uttered her name. Screaming as she backed up against the wall of the compartment she whimpered in fear as the head was tossed towards her and rolled before hitting her feet._

_She was nearly sure it was Gene that stared up at her with those pain filled bloodshot eyes. His dark hair flopped across his blood drenched face as he uttered his final word, "Run,"_

_Scenery shifted just as the man reached for her and as she breathed a sigh of relief she swallowed in water as she sunk down into the depths of blackness._

_Air bubbles left her mouth and flooded around her as she sunk down, unable to move her limbs to swim. The surface shone so bright above her as the sun reflected against the water sparkling into her eyes and in her head she heard her mum speaking in her head like she used to after telling a bedtime story, "Go to sleep, love, go to sleep,"_

_That familiar voice in her head, she could swear that she could feel her mum's hand stroking through her hair like she used to at night when they would lie up in bed and take turns to read a story._

_The familiar feeling of safety overtook her and she cared no more about swimming to the surface for air. She let the water take her down as she closed her eyes, feeling her mum's arms wrap around her in a hug and she let herself drift into sleep as the water flooded down her throat and into her lungs_

Naru sighed as he rubbed at his eyes. Mr. Fujioka had left so abruptly that he hadn't had time to ask where the old and modern line maps where. With Mai out of commission back in base, his research was going a lot slower. Normally he would have made her do the search and retrieve job but now it was him. He let a yawn escape a mouth as he entered the next room along the corridor and finally found what he was looking for.

Marching back to the base, he was unsurprised to find Takigawa and Ayako missing, no doubt trying to get something to eat. Masako, John and Yasuhara had yet to arrive and Lin was sitting at his laptop watching footage of the recent train rides.

Dumping down the maps onto the table for further study he turned to his friend on the couch who was fidgeting and murmuring with sweat glistening on her face as she twisted from side to side.

As he went over to her side and bent to check her temperature, her eyes flicked open and the loudest scream erupted from her mouth before she started choking.

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**Hey, anyone want to guess what is going on with Mai? **

**Oh and for all those who have read look to the past, prevent the future, I am now working on the sequel. Chapter 2 is written but I'm going to wait until I'm certain I don't want to change what I've written before I upload it.**

**Oh and in two weeks I'll be back in school and knowing my parents my computer time will be cut so updates (although slow at the moment, sorry) will hopefully be every week if I can manage it.**

**Good luck to everyone in the new school year!**


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7**

Naru stared at the girl as she rapidly clutched at her throat and tried to speak. He stared at her unsurely, was she joking? It wouldn't be the first time that she had woken up out of a dream and pretended to be in trouble as a joke on everyone. Staring at the girl's face before turning away, he did have to admit that her acting skills were improving. She actually did look like she was in trouble!

Even before he heard Lin rush out of his chair at a thump he realised that this was no joke. He jolted around to see her lying on the floor as she still clutched at her throat. A slightly red liquid trickled out of her mouth as she struggled to breathe. At a quick glance it seemed to be a form of water mixed in with blood but he focused on her instead.

Eyes wild she struggled at whatever was holding on to her before a piercing whistle and a white light shot through something in front of Mai.

At first it was hazy but the edges of it solidified to form the shape of a man bending over her. With a snarl he jolted away from the girl and stared around the room with an evil glare. His eyes didn't linger too long on the men but instead returned to Mai on the floor gasping in the much needed air.

A standoff began as the three humans looked at the spirit before them emitting off an evil back prickling aura. Mai stared at him hazily for a second before realising it was the man from the dream. The man with Gene's head. Without thinking or meaning to her emotions clouded her already poor judgement and although she was weak she managed to lunge at the spectre with murderous intent.

She should have realised that the murder of the ghost was impossible unless she began an exorcism but being Mai this didn't occur to her until it was too late. What was even more was that she realised she could see what was going on around her. Sure everything had a hazy tinge to it but something wasn't right….

Only with horror as the ghost grabbed her did she realise that she was standing in the middle of a solid wooden table. She glanced around only to see Naru and Lin crouching beside her unconscious body.

The grip on her arm tightened and she screamed as she tried to tug out of his grasp. With a smile he let go as she tugged and she stumbled back, stepping through Naru and then the couch.

With a shudder Naru glanced around as he felt coldness and fear pass through him before disappearing in a flash. Staring at the unwaking girl he realised what was going on.

"Lin, she's out of her body with the ghost," he said as he ran and grabbed one of the portable spare thermal cameras and switched it on. Attaching it to the monitors he moved the camera lens around the room until he found what he was looking for.

Mai was on the floor behind the couch and moving back to the wall as the man approached her. "Lin, by the couch!" he yelled and pointed at the Chinese man before pointing at the ghost.

Unleashing his shiki upon the man he had a hard time convincing them to stay away from Mai. As far as they were concerned, whenever unleashed to attack they should clear all spirits away from their master. The only thing that saved the teenage girl was the sense of fear and helplessness Mai's spirit emitted.

Disgruntled they flew around her but stayed away by orders. Thinking quickly as he stared at the cameras he stared at the slightly indistinct form of Mai. The girl was sitting by the wall clutching her knees as she sobbed. Naru pondered, perhaps it would be better to help her into her body after Ayako and Bou-san or even John came back to base. He had no idea how to deal with a hysterical girl. Gesturing at Lin, Naru pointed hopelessly at her on the monitor and waited for him to come up with ideas.

Staring at the girl on the monitor he let out a small sigh, "Taniyama-san, I think it's best that you go back to your body now! You have better protection there than in the spirit zone,"

On screen the girl hiccupped slightly before she crawled over to her body.

The base door opened with a bang as the remaining SPR member rushed in.

Bou-san without thinking felt the presence of a spirit and began his mantra with Ayako not to far behind with her Shinto Kuji exorcism.

The combined methods of, "Rin pyou tou sha kai jin retsu sai zen" and, "Naumaku sanmanda basara dan kan," overpowered Mai and with a scream her form faded out of existence.

Naru stared at the screen for a second in shock, how stupid really was his team? Shaking his head he turned to the monk and miko and with the coldest voice he had he yelled, "Get out of this base and find Mai, you IDIOTS!"

The rest of the members ran out of the base at their bosses anger as some of the items in base began to shake due to his loss of control.

* * *

**Hmm, mai seems to be getting into a lot of trouble recently.**

**Well sorry for the late update, been having a bit of computer trouble. laptop had to go to repair centre and our main computer kept having virus alerts everytime I went onto fanfic website. Has anyone else had that problem recently?**

**Well back in school now and my parents have lowered my computer time down to an hour a day so updates will be later than even I expected them to be. sorry about this. **

**Also, after so many weeks away from fanfic apart from the odd time I managed to get a comp to get on I have so many stories to catch up on. Aaaah**

**next update will be sooner or later and sorry once again!**


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8**

Where am I? Mai thought as she stared a round her at the soft glow. I feel so light! What's wrong with me? Why am I…? Mai stared around her. Why am I floating? Why do I feel so tired?

As she stared around her she saw the will-o-wisps floating on her right and trying to reach her before backing away when they hit against something that blocked them off. She sat up and rubbed her head sorely as the events came flooding after her.

First the ghost was attacking her even with Naru in the room and then Bou-san and Ayako coming in and exorcising her. I guess I really am too much hassle and am just better out of the way, she thought while the whole idea of it broke her heart.

She stood up and as she put her feet beneath her she felt herself float softly downwards though she couldn't see where she was heading. It was like she was standing in fog that blocked everything off from site, but for Mai she was glad that she could see anything at all, only it warned her that she was dreaming or in danger from attack.

She stared down at herself and was shocked to see her hand flicker in and out of existence once and then twice before turning translucent. I guess Monk and Ayako's exorcism wasn't powerful enough to practically kill me but still strong enough to get me away from my body for a while, she thought sadly, do they really hate me that much?

Weeping sadly she didn't notice her surroundings until it was too late for her to leave them and the awful smell of coal burning. Taking her hands from her eyes she glanced around her to see the same man who had tried to kill her board the steam train after handing the ticket to the conductor.

She stared at the people getting on the train and decided to follow them, not noticing the conductor glance at her before shaking his head and staring resolutely at the next customer.

The train was old and a small corridor ran along one side of the carriage while the other side was split into compartments separated by glass. She walked through people as she started down the corridor and glancing through the glass trying to find the man.

She knew deep down that she wasn't safe and instead of trying to find the person who had previously tried to hurt her, she should run away and hide, but strangely she felt an odd compulsion to find him and… and what?

She didn't know.

Speak to him perhaps? And find out why he wanted to hurt her was also up on the list. Get him to stop whatever he was doing, yep another thing to do, Mai thought as she walked further down the carriage.

She stopped suddenly as she spotted her target staring bored out of the window and looking upon something on the station. Craning her neck to see she caught a flash of white before she toppled forward through the carriage door and into the compartment itself. She froze and looked at the man fearfully but he either couldn't see her or was ignoring her. Mai liked to think it was the first one, it was much safer.

The man still stared intently out the window and Mai with a better view managed to see him staring at a young man of around twenty who was staring right back at them. As the train moved off the young man waved his hand in a final farewell before walking off the platform.

With a sigh the man she was in the carriage with turned away from the window and looked at the wall opposite him before turning his head to the window with narrowed eyes.

Turning around to look Mai saw a middle-aged man dressed in staff attire come into the small space.

He looked apologetically at the man, "Excuse me sir, but I'm afraid I need to check your luggage for a routine inspection," the man held his hands out expectantly but he received nothing.

"I'm sorry but I'm afraid everything in my luggage is private and I will not allow it to be checked by someone I do not know!" the voice was icy and didn't bother to hide any rudeness.

"What's going on here?" Mai was startled to see the conductor who had been at the doorway come into the picture now and yet again she had the feeling she knew him from somewhere or rather she should know him.

"Ah Tamaki, it's been a long time has it not," the conductor smiled happily in on the man in the carriage before turning to his workmate, "Is there something wrong here?"

With barely concealed anger, "He says he won't let someone he doesn't know look at his bags as their privates. But it's my job to check _everyone's_ bag,"

"Ah don't worry! I'm sure Tamaki will let me look at his bags and that way you can go on happily,"

The man left leaving Tamaki and the conductor in the compartment.

"Akihiko I can't let you look at my bags," Tamaki said almost regretfully as he stared at the man, "Nothing against you it's just… I-"

"Don't worry!" Akihiko smiled jovially as he clapped the man on the shoulder, "I wouldn't let that stuffy nosy man near my stuff either but if you don't want me to look can I ask why?"

"Nothing, I just owe a debt to a gang I got involved with a while ago and I have to take this to a location to pay them back,"

Akihiko nodded his head understandingly and Mai looked between the two men. There was obviously a great deal of trust between the two men as they chatted for a while until one question finally caught Mai's attention.

"How is your mother and sisters?" Tamaki asked carefully, probably knowing he was going into mine field territory.

"Ah the girls are fine and Ma is no worse than she was before. Look I have to go and finish my rounds but hopefully I'll see you soon,"

Akihiko left the compartment and continued down the corridor while Mai stared at the man now known as Tamaki who looked regretfully after his friend before reaching for the bag and taking out a gun. He loaded it carefully before storing the bag overhead and tucking the fire arm in his jacket he strode out of his compartment.

Mai made to follow but felt a hand catch around her wrist and drag her back. She turned to see Tamaki or rather his ghost grin manically down at her. "I found you yet again and this time your friends aren't here to get rid of me!"

With a start their surroundings changed again and Mai found herself in one of the rooms in the railway station where they had taken their new job.

"Let me go!" she yelled and tried to pull away from him but he only grinned in response.

"Did you have fun?" he asked sarcastically, "Seeing my past? But you didn't get to see the best part of all? You didn't get to see me kill every single person on that train, one after the other. Their faces filled with fear and anguish. Don't you want to see that?" he asked, his face millimeters away from hers as his eyes showed his dark insanity. He licked his lips, probably more out of habit than anything else before pulling her closer to him and burying his face into her hair.

"You smell so familiar girl, so like the others!" he murmured into her ear before stepping back, "And what I-"

The door behind them slammed open and Mai sighed with relief as she saw Bou-san and Ayako surge into the room quickly followed by Naru.

She smiled and went towards them before she felt hands clasp around her, preventing her from going towards them. A thin veil seemed to appear between her and her friends that allowed her to hazily see them. She squirmed but couldn't break loose.

"I could have sworn I felt Mai in here," Bou-san muttered loudly to Ayako as he searched the room for Mai's presence, "I was sure of it!" the monk swore loudly before following the priestess and Naru out the door.

Mai stared at her friends as they left the room. The man still held onto her and kept his hand over her mouth to stop her screaming while his other arm stopped her from flailing around to draw attention. Mai could only assume that the spirit was keeping them both hidden and that was no good thing.

The door slammed shut behind her friends and Mai felt tears run down her face.

_Guys, please come back! Don't abandon me please!_

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**Sorry for not updating in two weeks but this chapter really stumped me and I'm not entirely happy with it.**

**Whew its been a busy few weeks, not to mention that I had three tests on ONE day, all straight after the other: Maths, French and Biology. eeeeewwwww it was truly awful lol**

**Au Revoir **


	9. Chapter 9

**Recap:**

_"I could have sworn I felt Mai in here," Bou-san muttered loudly to Ayako as he searched the room for Mai's presence, "I was sure of it!" the monk swore loudly before following the priestess and Naru out the door._

_Mai stared at her friends as they left the room. The man still held onto her and kept his hand over her mouth to stop her screaming while his other arm stopped her from flailing around to draw attention. Mai could only assume that the spirit was keeping them both hidden and that was no good thing._

_The door slammed shut behind her friends and Mai felt tears run down her face._

_Guys, please come back! Don't abandon me please!_

**Chapter 9**

John and Masako stepped into the different rooms belonging to the train station which consisted of a number of offices, a toilet, a locker room and a kitchen in the staff only zone.

Masako treaded lightly as she tried to sense for any ghosts but it wasn't working really well. Whatever this ghost was, it was nowhere on her radar, she couldn't sense a thing which was definitely not right. Even if she couldn't sense it right now she should be able to sense some residue.

Even though Mai was still alive, her spirit had left her body, so she should be able to communicate with the girl but why couldn't she now. She had been able to do it when she was stuck in the room with the blood filled bath. Even the thought of it made my Masako glance over her shoulder in fear.

She followed the priest down the corridor towards the end of their search. Ever since those idiots had exorcised Mai Naru had been annoyed with everyone and Masako thought this unfair on her and John. They hadn't done anything wrong! They hadn't said the stupid chants to get rid of the girl, although it was much quieter without her around.

Scowling but using her kimono sleeve to hide the unpleasant look on her face she began to ponder over Mai, her kind of friend and rival. She knew Mai must be having a difficult time at the moment but why was she always targeted by ghosts? It wasn't like she gave off a ghost magnet aura and apart from her ESP she was perfectly ordinary.

So why was this new ghost after Mai? Masako hadn't been able to sense the ghost properly yet as it had been avoiding her. She knew it was male and filled with a malicious evil that was amongst the worst that she had ever met. And the soul was tainted with blood of many people's deaths.

"Hara-san," Lin called to them through their radio, "Any sign of Taniyama-san?" the Chinese man asked sounding almost bored as he spoke to them.

"None whatsoever," Masako replied back huffily feeling useless, "I can't feel the spirit either. No doubt it's hiding itself from us. It's dangerous, tell the others to be careful," she said really meaning Naru, but with the priest beside her, she didn't want to embarrass herself with such selfish thoughts.

John smiled gently at her and Masako felt herself burn with shame at deceiving the young man.

"Don't worry Masako, Mai will be fine. We'll make sure of it," John said determinately, before taking control of the radio. "Lin-san, have Shibuya-san and the others finished their search,"

"Yes, they're returning to the base now," Lin confirmed and John's eyebrow puckered as he thought deeply.

"Lin-san could you please ask the others to recheck the parts of the building they were assigned to. If the ghost was indeed hiding itself it wouldn't do any harm to double check. Is that possible?" John asked, wondering if he was going overboard by making a demand on the team.

"Naru says that's fine," Lin-san replied back shortly after and John smiled slightly.

"Come on Hara-san," he replied as they headed back down the corridor and double checking the rooms while saying a short prayer for good measure.

"Brown-san," Lin came through the radio, "I need you to meet Naru outside an old storage room on the floor above. The temperature there has dramatically decreased over the last ten minutes," Lin rushed through it as he checked through the thermal readings and glancing at the monitors.

Masako and John wasted no time running up the flight of stairs to the right floor and they met outside the room at exactly the same time that Naru, Bou-san and Ayako came running along the corridor.

Without waiting for them to reach the door, John opened the room and stepped inside, immediately catching his breath at the sheer coldness of the room and how the door handle nearly stuck to his hands.

He could see his breath before him and there was frost on the window in the corner. His body immediately began shivering and his teeth chattered.

"Mai?" the others arrived in a matter of seconds and they gasped at the coldness. But there was nothing in sight. Just an ordinary room.

"Mai, where are you?" John asked desperately in his Australian, unwilling to perform any kind of exorcism in case Mai got caught up in it as well.

Silence for a few seconds before the window began to rattle and thudding came from the ceiling and walls. The team froze and waited until the glass shattered and let in a cold gust of air. They stared unsurely around them as though waiting for a sign.

"Mai!" Bou-san yelled as a cabinet in the back of the room exploded sending paperwork flying everywhere at the same time resounding footsteps came running along the corridor and Lin came dashing in, finger in mouth and let out a piercing whistle.

Bright lights left his side and charged into the corner beside the filing cabinet before disappearing and reappearing after plunging into something. Lin hoped dearly that it was the ghost his shiki had attacked and not Mai.

A ghost flickered into existence screaming in pain clutching Mai's throat before disappearing again. They flickered in and out of existence before the man disappeared.

With held breath they watched Mai slouch against the wall, seemingly unconscious before her eyes slowly opened and she raised her head to stare at them. A wobbly smile appeared on her face before she to popped out of existence.

"Mai?" Bou-san asked out loud, wondering if the girl was playing a joke on them.

A muffled sound came out of the mike Lin held in his hand, "Ah, Lin-san, Taniyama-san has woken up and is…" muffled sobs were all everyone needed to hear before they ignored the rest of what Mr. Fujioka had to say and tried to reach the base room as quickly as possible.

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**Whew how long's it been. A month?**

**_If anyone has any suggestions for this story, greatly appreciated. I have a story line but kinda struggling with it. Help please._**

**Oh and can anyone tell me where the bookmark has gone on the website? I had lots of different story chapters bookmarked and they've all gone now.**

**Soz this chap was REALLY difficult to write. I had no idea how to have the team save Mai and even HANA had no idea what I should do so yeah... lol. crap chapter but it's been a bad couple of weeks...**

**Bomb scare in the courthouse in our town. Parent teacher Meeting. A test if not every day then every other day. Essays that needed to be handed up. Surprise french listenings. Geography coursework (over 40 pages which took forever to get correct) and now I'm doing biology coursework as well. And to make things better I have english coursework to do over Halloween break and we're going to get piles of homework from each subject. **

**Plus the weather's just awful, rain, dark menacing clouds and more rain lol.**


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter 10**

Silence echoed through the room as Mai's tearful sobs subsided to be replaced by even breathing.

Mr Fujioka had long since left. Apparently he wasn't capable of dealing with over emotional crying teenage girls, but unsurprisingly, neither was Naru.

He stayed by the edges of the room and watched as his team hovered anxiously over the sleeping girl wrapped in Ayako's arms.

Lin was the first to move away after he made his shiki check that she was back properly in her body and that she wouldn't be leaving anytime soon when she was asleep.

Naru stared at the man as he walked past him back to his ever precious laptop. For the first time Lin had not followed his direct orders. He's commanded him to stay and operate the search for Mai by guiding them via the earpieces. Instead he'd given his job to someone incompetent and with no experience, before dashing off to the storage room without telling the rest of the team first.

Naru knew that as leader and president he should talk to the older man about this breaking of orders but he held back unsurely. If Lin hadn't done what he did, Mai might not be safely sitting asleep on the sofa like she was right now.

Lin turned his head as if feeling Naru's eyes bore into the back of his head and they made eye-contact.

Lin said nothing and his expression stayed the same as he turned back to work, clearly unconcerned about his boss' behaviour.

Naru grimaced as he felt an oncoming headache and he felt the compelling urge for team but taking a glance at his exhausted assistant, he knew it would be a while before Mai would make him any tea, or before the others would let her.

He stood up without gaining attention from the room's occupants and left through the door. He was halfway down the corridor before his name being called made him halt.

"Where are you going?" Bou-san stared at him, refusing to be blown off by the young boy in front of him who was giving off a dark aura of impatience.

"Nowhere of your concern, Takigawa-san," he said to the monk and tried to continue but felt the man's hand wrap around his arm.

"Mai has just been attacked by an evil spirit," he muttered angrily to him, "Now is not the time for you to do one of your magic disappearing acts for a couple of days. We're all sick of it Naru. And how do you think Mai's going to feel when she wakes up to find that you're gone," Bou-san played his trump card with a slightly foolish hope.

Naru stared for a few seconds before continuing down the corridor, unwillingly dragging Takigawa along as he refused to let go of him.

"Naru, where are we going?" the monk asked curiously as they began to walk away from the train station.

"_I'm_ going to the library to look up old newspapers, but as to where you're going, I couldn't possibly tell you," Naru said sarcastically.

"Why are you looking up old newspapers?" Bou-san asked curiously as he let go of Naru and kept in step with him.

Naru sighed, he hated having to explain his reasoning to dumb people, "Obviously something happened a while ago at this train station but until Mai wakes up we won't know for sure. It would be better to start looking through newspaper articles now while we're waiting rather than later when we won't have the time,"

Bou-san nodded, Mai wake up quickly, he thought to himself, I don't want to be spending so much time with Naru alone!

* * *

**Like I said in 'Breathless" when I updated it I'm sorry for the late update and that this chapter is so short but I'm really busy, more like hectic and while updates may not be regular I am continuing with these stories, it'll just take me more time to get them posted. Thanks, **


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter 11**

Mai's breathing was slow and even and her face was smooth and relaxed. She looked peaceful as she rested on the couch, no one could have guessed at the turmoil she was in.

"_Mai, I'm here, its ok," the girl shivered unwilling to look up at where the voice was coming from. She didn't want to know what he'd look like now. Would he even still have his head? It was all her fault, if she'd just done something instead of standing around or hiding like a damn damsel in distress. That was all she ever seemed to be these days, waiting for someone to come along and help her. What happened to the independency she had built up over the years? It had gone as soon as she'd met SPR._

_Snivelling Mai wiped her eyes with the back of her hands and stood up shakily. She was going to be a brave girl! She was sixteen and a fully capable adult. So right now she was going to raise her head and make sure that Gene was alright. Breathing deeply Mai slowly raised her head and stared at his chest. Clean black clothes, no blood stains. Collar buttoned neck intact. Mouth twisted in sad smile, concern in his eyes._

_With a sigh of relief Mai felt new tears come to her eyes. Gene was fine. But how? How was that possible?_

"_Mai," his voice was soft as he gazed down at her, "There's scene's you have to see and it might be hard to bear," he looked sad, so sorrowful. "There's so much to be explained,"_

* * *

Bou-san sat at the library desk with annoyance staring at the multitude of books surrounding them in longs rows along the shelf. As soon as Naru had called the librarian to open up the facility he had disappeared off somewhere and the monk had not been quick enough to keep up and had promptly lost his boss.

He stared around him, his back to open space and suppressed the shiver running down the spine. He didn't know what it was but he felt as if something was watching him. Something evil. Closing his eyes he focused on his surroundings.

It was still only the first day of their investigation and so much had already happened, especially to Mai. It was normal for her to be targeted out by ghosts but this was unusual. Never had Mai been so haunted and on the first day too. Shaking his head the monk sighed and stood up. He might as well try to find Naru now, if all he was going to do was sit alone with his thoughts.

He was so tired! But everything seemed to be bugging him, so many thoughts and questions ran through his head.

He couldn't help but wonder at him and Ayako exorcising Mai. He knew he should be glad that his friend was still in one piece but really her spirit should have vanished for at least a few days if not forever. He supposed that since her spirit was still connected to her living body it had weakened the effects but something wasn't right…

Frowning he broke off from his daze as he saw a glowing light coming from behind a bookcase to his left. Bracing himself he saw Naru scanning through old newspapers on a computer and wondered what the kid was up to now, if this was what he did everytime he disappeared then that was the last time he was following him.

Walking up and leaning over his shoulder Bou-san looked at the main headline on the front page dating back to 1966. **TRAIN TUNNEL COLLAPSE KILLS EVERYONE ON BOARD**

"The tunnel collapsed?" Bou-san murmured, "But that doesn't make any sense. If the tunnel collapsed, sure you'd have a few spirits but not like the murderous one after Mai," Bou-san frowned as something suspicious occurred to him, "A cover-up?"

Naru pursed his lips considering, "Perhaps but if you look at the photograph taken it shows that it's not any normal cover-up,"

Naru quickly scrolled down to the next page showing the tunnel and to the left of it was a large lake. There was a gap built in between the tunnel as it emerged from beneath the ground to above it. Only the tunnel above the ground had collapsed and if Takigawa strained his eyes he could faintly make out a carriage from beneath the rubble.

Naru groaned slightly, "It makes no sense and until Mai wakes up and fills us in on the details we can only presume part of the story,"

Bou-san yawned, "So it was a complete waste of time coming here then," the monk stated as he glanced at his watch wanting nothing more than to go to bed.

"I wouldn't say that," Naru smirked as he glanced up at the monk, "As I was scrolling back through the years while you were catching up to me I noticed a wedding congratulations not soon after the crash," Naru paused as he flicked onto another screen and scrolled down through a list of names, "Just as I thought," he muttered to himself.

Bou-san tried to ignore the irritation he felt; now he knew why Mai was always trying to hit him. "What?"

"I think I can make a hypothesis as to why the ghost is attacking Mai. The marriage was between one Mori-san and Taniyama-san and soon after they had a son, Akio,"

"Right, what has this got to do with Mai-chan?" Takigawa sighed exasperatedly.

"If my guess is right then Akio is Mai's deceased father and his mother, Mori Ai was the younger sister of one Mori Akihiko, who was one of the deceased in the train crash. I happened to look to the more recent papers a couple of years ago. Did Mai ever say how her parents died?" Naru paused as he waited for the monk to reply.

Bou-san thought hard, he remembered her saying her parents were dead but she never specified how they died, he shook his head.

"Well Taniyama Akio and his wife Haruna died in the train crash on the sister rail to the one we're investigating now. The small train fell off the tracks; Mai's parents along with her grandparents who were also on the train were the only ones to die, everyone else escaped with minor injuries,"

"The creatures being going after her family and it's trying to get her now. But the question is why?" Bou-san frowned worriedly thinking of Mai sleeping peacefully on the couch.

"No," Naru stated, "The question is what did Mori Akihiko do on the train of the day of the crash?"

* * *

_Mai stared around her as Gene led her along the apartments telling her not to look through the glass window and to focus only on him. Mai listened to him, only after she'd glanced through and turned her head away soon after, avoiding the eyes of the lifeless girl staring at her with a gunshot hole in her head._

_She buried her head into Gene's arms as she tried to avoid looking at the floor where she was sure she'd see something like blood coming out from underneath the doorways._

_Gene stared down at her sadly before he led her on, regretting about what he was going to have to show her and wondered if she'd be the same afterwards._

_

* * *

_

**Sorry it's been around two months now since this has been updated.**

**Admittedly I've been avoiding this fic for a while simply because I had no clue how to write this chapter. But thanks to Hana-bean she helped me sort it out so this chapter was dedicated to you bean-chan. lol **

**well I've got the plot back nicely in my head so hopefully more updates to come sooner than formerly expected**


	12. Author Note

Hey everyone,

I know it's been a while since I updated all of my stories and this is a general notice for all of them, I HAVE NOT STOPPED WRITING THESE STORIES NOR HAVE I LOST THE PLOT LINE. With my exams coming up in less than three weeks and some major studying needing done I simply don't have time to type them up at the moment. My last exam is on the 17th June, and I will begin updating again after that, pinky promise XD.

Thanks for your continued support,

Blackwitchkarma


	13. Chapter 12

**Chapter 12: Past Truths**

_The smell was disgusting, so much death surrounded her, and she could feel it in every step she took as her foot slipped and slid over the watery floor. Only she knew the substance coating the passageway was a far shot away from water and that was what scared Mai. She'd already seen a train massacre and she wasn't ready to see another one, she knew her sanity couldn't take another one. It was far worse than anything she had ever experienced during the bloodstained labyrinth. That was why she clung onto Gene, her face buried into his coat sleeve._

_All the while as Gene guided her past many compartment doors and through to the next carriage he kept apologising and that scared her. Gene never apologised for anything when it only had to be said once, this scene could only be worse than anything she had every encountered before in any of her dreams. As they stepped into the next carriage with Mai's arm looped comforting through Gene's, the atmosphere changed. The sun shined brightly in through the window, the floor became normally surfaced and the deathly smell was refilled with that of cleaning polish and a hint of coal._

"_Where are we?" Mai stared around her in confusion, looking back to the previous grim carriage she had just been in through the door window she saw herself to be in the end carriage. But how could that be? I just passed through and now it's gone._

"_In the past Mai," Gene gazed at the young girl desperately clinging onto him, "Your parents and grandparents all died in a train crash, they were the only ones while everyone else survived," Mai frowned at him, wondering what bringing up this topic had to do with anything, not to mention this case in particular, "This ghost is strong and the only reason he is still here is because of your great-uncle Mori Akihiko. You've seen what Tamaki did on that train journey, Akihiko was a train inspector on that train and also happened to know this Tamaki. Mai, this ghost has been following your family through the years, haunting with every chance it gets,"_

"_You mean that it killed my parents on that train journey, it was no accident as the emergency services termed it?" Mai froze, staring at Naru's twin in shock, to know that what she had laid to rest years ago was getting opened up again hurt but to know that her parents had been murdered, it was worse than she thought. She felt an inexplicable anger rise up in her, the kind she had never before felt, the need for revenge. That thing was a murderer; it deserved to be dealt with._

_Gene gestured her ahead of him and she walked in front wondering what he was about to show her, his eyes were emotionless when she turned inquisitively towards him. "It's important you see this Mai. I won't show you everything, just what you need to see. This is the train your parents were on before it crashed,"_

_My parents, Mai felt tears pricking at her eyes at the thought of seeing them again and eagerly glanced through each window and moving on when she saw the people inside where not who she was searching for. It was the final compartment where she halted and froze, staring at the two men and women inside, two elderly and two middle-aged. Her hand unintentionally went up to the glass that was the only thing separating them. Her mum was talking jovially with her father-in-law while his wife and her husband sat laughing at whatever they were saying. They were so happy, so unknowing of the danger that they were in._

_Almost at once the temperature hastily dropped, and her breath came out as a misty white when she exhaled. Her parents only noticed it had gotten chilly, they didn't feel or sense the malevolent presence that had just appeared. She watched her father slide on his black jacket, she could hazily remember him wearing that, it had been his favourite and her granny slid on a green jumper. She shook her head slowly whispering 'no' over again as she stared at her family and knowing what was about to happen yet being useless to help._

"_You think you have the power to get rid of me, you are mistaken. Akihiko was wrong when he said that one of his descendants would kill me. Look at you, you can't hear me, you can't see; you can't even feel my presence. How can you possibly expect to destroy me?" It repeated over and over, and Mai froze when she saw a man staring into the glass right next to her. She jumped back slightly with a scream as she saw the man who had tried to kill her peering in to stare at her family._

"_Stop Mai," Gene's hand grabbed her shoulder as she was about to use the Kuji to get rid of it. "Anything you do now will be useless, this has already happened," Mai nodded reluctantly and stepped back when he pulled her gently, turning away to face Gene and away from the scene playing out before her. Knowing what truly happened weighed down on her, her fists clenched as silent tears reigned down upon her cheeks. Never had she felt so useless and angry. This _thing_ had messed up her life, it was the reason she struggled to make things meet, the reason she was alone with no one to support her. _That ghost_ had irrevocably destroyed a future that- that she wanted so badly. And she couldn't do anything, it didn't occur to the teenager that even if she had done anything, at this moment in time she was only a small child miles away from the train's current location._

"_Go back to Naru Mai," he didn't add his thought of that being where she belonged, "Tell him I said that sending you away from the train station won't work now that Tamaki can recognise and track you. The only way you can get out of this is to destroy his spirit but a simple exorcism will not work. He's attached to an earthly possession and it won't be easily found. And Mai, tell Naru to check the passenger count on all of the train journeys, tell him to do that!" Gene stared gravely at her and she nodded to show she understood the seriousness of the situation._

Naru stared pensively at his assistant still lying asleep, this had been the longest she'd ever dreamed on any of their cases, along with the most frequent and he began to doubt if she would even wake up. He was aware that the small niggling worry was uncalled for. If there was any reason to worry Ayako or Lin would have spoken and they were content enough to monitor the cameras or walk around the perimeter. But what if they were wrong? He believed that Gene had to be somewhere in her dreams trying to protect her but what could he do to help her? This ghost may be a lot stronger than his brother in the afterlife, especially if it was older and its strength was fuelled by motive. He mused silently at this with the pretence of reading his small black folder, what would have caused the ghost to tie onto Mai's family?

"Naru?" The teenager stared at the girl, wondering if he was hallucinating or if she had actually said something. Had he imagined her generally annoying but oddly comforting voice? "Is anyone there?" She was awake! Relief was evident on his face momentarily before his scientific side shut down his emotions; finally he could get some answers.

* * *

**This is the single most hardest chapter I have ever written, I just feel so out of tune with this story :'( sigh... and it shows too in this chapter. I am so sorry guys, hopefully the next chappie will be better and you won't have to wait very long (fingers crossed) cuz I'm in the progress of writing it. And hopefully I'll remember how this is going to play out XD **


	14. Chapter 13

Well hello everyone, all I can say in my defence is that I do not have the proper time anymore to write my fanfictions they way I want to and I found this chapter already half written from before September.

Dedicated to Funhause64, who seemed to really want another chapter, sorry for the very very long months of silence

* * *

**The Story So Far:**

Mai has a dream that causes her to get flash blindness in the real world. Then SPR are hired by Mr Fujioka to solve a case to do with a train line, the strange thing is Mai's been having dreams before the case even began! Now, on only the first day, Mai is already stuck in the dream world, being haunted by what appears to be a psychotic ghost who has been hunting down her family. Frustrated at Mai's comatose state, Naru and Takigawa go the the local library where they find a series of old newspapers showing the train, that Tamaki was on, buried under a pile of rubble. There they connect the dots that Akihiko, the conductor on that train, was Mai's great uncle. Returning to base, the gang are waiting around for Mai, who has been having some very vivid dreams of a massacre on the train journey, reshowing the actions that Tamaki took back in the 1960s. Only this time Tamaki is chasing after her trying to get her. Gene shows Mai a flashback of the day her parents died and she discovers that they were murdered...

**Now**

**

* * *

Chapter 13**

Mai paused in the middle of her account, trying to get a grip on the people surrounding her and the feel of the general atmosphere in the room they were using as a base. It irked her knowing that she couldn't see her fellow workmates surrounding her despite her being able to see in her dreams. If this was what it was going to be like she considered actually staying asleep until her eyes were fully healed, if they would ever do that.

What was even more confusing was why her body in reality had taken the hit for her body in her dream walking. If she had been blinded in her dreams then surely it should be her dream self suffering. It was just soo frustrating! Her fists clenched slightly at being even more useless than she usually was. No one else seemed to have these problems, it was always poor helpless little Mai who got the rough end of the stick.

"We already figured out that Mori Akihiko was your great-uncle," Naru sat opposite her, or she assumed he was opposite her because it was the direction of his voice, calmly digesting what he had been told, "But from what you've said he was the inspector and knew the ghost, Tamaki, who killed everyone on the train, and presumably vowed vengeance,"

"So was the tunnel collapse a cover-up?" Bou-san glanced slightly at Mai, "It would explain a lot. If it was the last run of the steam train and had gained a lot of publicity then perhaps it would have been better to let it end with the tunnel instead of the media taking pictures of the massacre inside,"

Naru digested the monk's statement, but while reasonable there were too many holes on it, also the monk just seemed to be obsessed with the idea of a cover-up, the English boy nearly face palmed for a number of reasons. First of all, if it had been a cover-up the means to collapse the tunnel would have had already have had to be in place, meaning they knew the massacre would happen. Besides nothing would have been gained from killing anyone on the train, from reading the newspaper Naru knew that no one influential had been on it, just ordinary civilians. Although Mai had mentioned something…

"Mai," the girl jerked her head up towards him, her eyes focusing on his whereabouts, "You said Tamaki wouldn't let his bags be checked when asked, and he was delivering them to a location for a gang?" If it was what he thought it was, then maybe just maybe he had found the true reason for the tunnel collapse, he glanced at Lin who was obviously aware of what he was thinking.

"It's all together possible Naru," he paused typing on his laptop to consider it, "It would explain the destruction … but not why he murdered everyone on the train beforehand. But this is working too much on hypothesis to be able to use it for the case just yet," Lin began typing again ignoring the puzzled looks the rest of the team were directing towards him as he remained as vague as possible. Mai still sat on the couch that she had previously been lying on and had been listening intently to the brief exchange, finding that she was able to follow it, surprisingly. Maybe not being caught up on reading peoples' facial expressions she could actually realise what they were up to.

"He said he owed the gang a debt," Mai interrupted quickly surprisingly everyone else at being able to catch onto their train of thought, an inner part of her smirked thinking she wasn't the one for once who was being stupid, "And before the train departed he waved at a man on the platform," the girl thought quickly, but what was the debt owed? What could he have possibly done to end up paying for it by eventually blowing himself and everyone else up? She rubbed at her head, already tired despite having slept most of the day away, but it was very late, in the early hours of the morning. Plus in a few hours they would only be on their second day. The second day, she thought bitterly, and so much has already happened.

"Naru, Gene said to check the passenger count on the trains," Mai had a jolt as she remembered what the Davis twin had said, "He didn't say why, just that it was important. There was something else too…" Mai broke off, desperately trying to remember what had been said, everything had been so rushed, she hadn't been paying proper attention, "There was something about being attached to an object or something or other," she shook her head slightly, and could feel the exasperated gazes of Lin and Naru staring at her, but held back her retort.

"Right guys, it's late," Naru stood up glancing out the window, "I want you all to do one final check of the station and cameras, it would seem that Mr Fujioka forgot to tell us that soon there will be a a new public journey on an old steam engine. It's my guess that the journey is going to be a lot more eventful that past ones,"

* * *

Naru had finally allowed them some sleep and the team returned to the hotel with the exception of Mai, despite the heaviness of her eyelids she knew that sleep would be impossible for her at the moment, especially when she knew what was waiting for her when she did shut her eyes. Unwillingly the images from the train journey came to the front of her mind and she felt the pen in her hand shake due to her own trembling. Those people… all that blood…

"Mai," Snapping out of her bloody morbid thoughts she felt her mood plummet even further. _Great!_ Just what she needed, the narcissist to annoy her even further. He always came at the most opportune moments, just when she was at her lowest, "I told you to leave with everyone else and get some sleep," Yep he sounded slightly peeved. Refusing to turn and meet the stormy blue eyes of her boss even though she still wouldn't be able to see them, Mai kept her head down and focused on her pen and diary, hoping for all things holy that he would just leave her be for once. She did the same for him when he felt the need for social reclusion. Common courtesy and all that.

She heard his soft footsteps hitting against the tiled floor as he moved closer to her and with a sigh she softly shut her book and laid down her pen, "I'm not tired Naru," that was obviously a lie, she had to muffle a yawn to get that sentence out of her mouth, if he caught one moment of weakness though he'd send her packing back to the hotel, not what she wanted.

There was silence for a couple of minutes, only disturbed by the sound of her boss sitting down beside her, and Mai couldn't help but fidget, what did he want? Once again frustration built up inside her, why couldn't he just leave me alone? She thought furiously, wishing he could butt his nose out just this once.

"You shouldn't keep it all bottled up inside Mai, it's not good for you," What was he doing? It sounded like he was trying to give her advice on… well not keeping everything to herself. Unable to help herself she snorted rudely at what seemed to be irony to her. It also had her a little freaked out, Naru tended to ignore emotions, that was one thing she had learned about him.

"That's rich coming from you Naru, the one person in this entire company who doesn't have a clue how to share things with others and at the best of times is emotionally stumped," shrilly Mai stopped before she went any further, already realising that her voice had given away her 'calm' facade, _oh crap! He is soo going to kill me_. Taking a breath, she figured if she was already going to hell… "What gives you the right to give me advice, _I'm fine_, I've already told everyone that!"

"I imagine, finding that your parents and grandparents dying not of natural causes but of having been murdered may be hard for you to deal with. Disconcerting, it makes you angry, helpless that you could do nothing, furious and thinking of revenge even though you have no way of hurting the ghost in the first place. You, Mai, are as open as a book, which is why I know the moment we have enough information to exorcise it you're going to run off and disappear to deal with it yourself," frustration laced his tone this time, and that was truly what he was feeling as he stared down at his assistant. She tried to act tough, he supposed having to practically fend for yourself did that to you but this wasn't just a team.

Mai stiffened in her seat, wondering how to get herself out of this one. Was she really that predictable? But this was her family, not just some randomer this time. This. Was. Personal. And who was he to speak to her in such a critical tone, "I learned from the best. After all, what has to do with the family stays in the family. Is that not what you said to me when we found Gene by the lake, Naru," dear god, Mai paused, I sound like a bitch and a vengeful one at that. The scary part was a small part of her liked being able to express what she thought, even the bad parts, instead of being her usual sweet polite self. "I will get rid of Tamaki for killing my family, maybe I'm not meant to do it entirely by myself but I will not be cut out of this investigation like you planned with Lin, I heard you discussing it earlier, and even if I leave the train station, the ghost will still find me. So don't even think of sending me away, my sight may be gone but my hearing is just as good, and what you were trying to do is an insult to me and my family," letting out a sigh she thought of the major walk out she could have done at the end of that. Damn flash blindness. Damn not being able to see Naru's face too.

She heard the creak of the leather as he got out of his seat and nearly flinched as she felt his cool breath tingling against her neck, "This isn't you speaking Mai, you're tired, you've seen endless horrific images and it's only been the first day. In parts I understand what you're feeling right now and no the anger never goes away," his hand clamped onto her shoulder tightly, "But then you meet people who make it better… numb the pain, you should have more trust in all of us here Mai, you should know by now not to keep your feelings clamped down. We care and you made everyone worried tonight because you're trying to act like I do," his hand released her shoulder and the light breathing that had been sending shivers down her back vanished as he straightened up and backed off. "And this case had to do with everyone Mai, because we are family, was that not your reply to me?"

Mai froze unsurely, was that really Naru? He sounded so different, more caring. In fact if it weren't that Gene was dead she would have thought it was Naru's twin she had just been talking to.

Why did Naru always have to sound so right all the time and make her feel like a chastised little school girl. There was what, about a year's difference between them, but then a year didn't make up the difference between IQ levels.

She knew that she was making everyone worried about her, hell all they wanted was the old Mai back, but she was gone. That girl had lived in peaceful obliviousness to the monster that had been killing off her family. Right now she felt incredibly bitter, towards Tamaki and Akihiko. If what Naruto believed was right, and her great uncle had done something to bring Tamaki's wrath down on his own family. Tamaki obviously haunted the train, train station or just the rail lines but why wasn't there hide or hair of the train conductor? Why wasn't Akihiko wandering around like Tamaki? Speaking of which, why was the only time that she had seen him was in a flash back? There were so many questions and so many answers to be had, but that wasn't what worried her.

Earlier on when she had been pondering about her real body taking the hit for her dream body, what with the flash blindness. But hadn't she been drowning in her dreams and then woken up choking on blood mixed water? Naru hadn't mentioned anything, neither had anyone else and perhaps they didn't suspect anything, but there was something wrong, Mai was sure of that! It could be the emergence of a new ability or perhaps just her dream walking getting stronger, but either way her dream and real body were connected. So did that mean, that if Tamaki managed to hurt her or worse in the dreams like he'd been trying to, did that mean bye-bye Mai here in the real world? He had shot her in the head during a dream and it hadn't affected her but even so the thought of dreaming to Mai seemed a lot scarier than it had been before.


	15. Update on what's happening

Hey guys,

It's been over a year since I've updated this story or any of my other ones and for that I am really sorry! Train Wreck along with all the others commenced when I was absolutely in love with Ghost Hunt and had an abundance of free time, which I'm afraid to say is no longer the case. And for quite a while this account has laid dormant in the deep recesses of my browser history but I've recently decided that something has to be done.

As I started all of these stories quite a while ago and haven't thought of them since, quite a lot of the plots have been forgotten and handwritten chapters have been lost, so I'll do my best to poke them out over the Christmas holidays and revise them.

I've decided that Train Wreck will be continued, either from where it is now, or I'll rewrite it since there are a few things I would like to change, in particular the title! As of this moment, all of the rest of my stories are being _temporarily_ discontinued (if you all hadn't already figured that out XD) until I have ample time to dedicate myself to them, probably the summer, but I am not considering putting them up for adoption... yet.

All I can say is that I am very sorry to everyone who followed my stories, for leaving everything hanging for the last year without a word to say what would be happening. I hope to be updating at least before February, studying and exams allowing for it of course.

I hope everyone has a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year and hopefully you will all be hearing from me soon,

Blackwitchkarma


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